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Police Advisory Commission Agenda 04-30-1997AGENDA SPECIAL MEETING - MONTICELLO POLICE COMMISSION Wednesday, Apri130, 1997 - 7 p.m. Members: David Gerads, Liz DesMarais, Bridget Baldwin, Brian Stumpf, Brad Fyle 1. Call to order. 2. Approval of minutes of the special meeting held Wednesday, March 5, 1997. 3. Consideration of reviewing posted speed limits, enforcement procedures, and school zone signage along Broadway (County Road 75). 4. Review of action to date regarding the establishment of a snowmobile route through the city. 5. Adjournment. • • Minutes Special Meeting -Police Commission Wednesday, March 5, 1997 - 7 p.m. Members Present: Dave Gerads, Liz DeMarais, Brian Stumpf, Bridget Baldwin, Brad Fyle Others Present: Wright County Sheriff s Deputy Steve Quill, Monticello Trailblazers Duane Bistodeau and Dane Hasbrouck Staff' Present: Roger Mack, Street Superintendent, Wanda Kraemer, DST 1. Ca11 to order. Chairperson DeMarais called the meeting to order and welcomed newly appointed member Brad Fyle. 2. A motion was made by Commissioner Stumpf, seconded by Commissioner Gerads, to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held February 5, 1997. Motion passed unanimously. 3. ~`Qnsideraton of the snowmobile ordinance amend~nPr~ts_and__r_ecommendati°ns onenfo~cement nro~dures_~e~arding snowmobile asti__yitie~. Wright County Sheriffs Deputy Steve Quill, Monticello Trailblazers Duane Bistodeau and Dane Hasbrouck, and Roger Mack, Street Superintendent, met with the Commission to discuss and route a snowmobile route through the city limits. It was agreed that because of the Highway 25 bridge crossing an established route needed to be established and signed. The route will be from the Highway 25 Bridge, east on River Street to Ramsey, south on Ramsey to 5th Street, East on 5th Street to Washington Street, East on Washington Street to 7th Street, East on 7th Street across property owned by St. Henry's Church, Bondhus, and Dahlheimers to County Road 118, South on County Road 118 to Chelsea Road, West on Chelsea Road to Oakwood Drive, South on Oakwood Drive to the State Trail. There was also a lengthy discussion on using Cedar St., which is one block west of the Highway 25 bridge, to the railroad right-of--way. This route was favorable because there is no residential housing along Cedar St. The committee's concerns were the safety of crossing Broadway one block from Highway 25, cars • parked along Cedar Street by the Senior Center, and not knowing if the railroad Rage 1 Special Meeting Police Commission - 03-OS-97 right-of--way could be signed. Dane Hasbrouck reported that Monticello has been a missing link in the state signed trail system. When snowmobilers enter the city limits there is no designated route through town which causes confusion on where they should ride. Hasbrouck and Bistodeau install the snowmobile route sign, orange signs with directional arrows, in the Monticello area. The club will take responsibility to sign the route and also to have the agreements signed by the private property owners, St. Henry's, Dahlheimers, & Bondhus. Roger Mack stated the city could provide signs that would have a map of the route and/or the signs that have wording. On the west side of town there will be signs directing snowmobiles from the state trail to the signed route through town. The signs in the City limits along West County Road 75 will be removed because the trail is only marked to Prairie Road. The main topic of the discussion was the portion of the snowmobile route along River Street. This area is all residential, however, it is the only logical street to use after crossing the bridge. A recommendation was made that City Council allocate a portion of the 200 extra patrol hours for River Street at the beginning of the snowmobile season to monitor the use. The Commission recommended articles in the fall and winter City newsletter and in the Times to inform residents and snowmobilers of the route through town. The Sheriff's office will be working with all of the cities in Wright County to develop a uniform snowmobile ordinance county-wide. Motion passed unanimously. 4. rn A MOTION WAS MADE BY CHAIRPERSON DEMARAIS, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER FYLE TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. Motion passed unanimously. Wanda Kraemer Development Services Technician • Page 2 Special Police Commission Agenda - 4/30/97 3. ~2. (R.W.) The City Council has recently requested that the Police Commission review the current enforcement procedures and speed limits that apply to East and West Broadway, especially in the areas of the High School and Pinewood Elementary. This request was the result of concerns raised by Nena Barker who lives at 406 East Broadway. Ms. Barker has been invited to attend this meeting of the commission. Some of the concerns noted by Ms. Barker related to the current posted speed limit and the placement of the speed zones near schools. In her opinion, she felt the speed limit should be lowered before getting close to the school property and that this should be investigated by the Police Commission. Presently, County Road 75 generally has a speed limit of 30 mph between the two schools. With County Road 75 having four lanes of traffic, I think it • would be very difficult to expect that the speed limit could be lower than 30 mph, In regard to speed limit near the schools, in both cases, the speed limits are reduced from either 45 mph or 55 mph as you enter the community to 30 mph before reaching the school properties. If cars are still traveling faster than the posted speed limits, it may be an issue of stricter enforcement through patroling efforts rather than the need to lower the speed limits. Since County Road 75 is a county state aid highway, the City does not have the authority to simply lower the speed limit or place speed limit signs wherever we please. The City Council would have to request that the County Board conduct a speed and traffic study along County Road 75. It would be likely that the County Board would then request that the Minnesota Department of Transportation conduct the speed study. MN/DOT would put our request on a list and would attempt to do the speed study within the next 6-12 months as time allowed. Generally speaking, what MN/DOT does is conduct a survey of the typical speeds being traveled along the route being surveyed and usually sets the speed limit at 85% of what the average person has been traveling. The rationale is that if most traffic is traveling at 50 mph in a certain area, MN/DOT might post the speed limit at 40 mph or 45 mph but would unlikely lower it to 30 mph, as they know most people will likely be exceeding the speed limit. Generally, most people tend to travel at a rate of speed they feel is safe for the area, and MN/DOT uses the 85% rule in their determinations. One danger of requesting that MN/DOT conduct a speed study along Broadway is that we might find that they feel the speed Special Police Commission Agenda - 4/30/97 limit should actually be raised since most people now travel above the 35-40 mph rate. MN/DOT could look at Broadway as having two lanes of traffic in each direction as being safe for increasing the speed limit to 35 mph or more since most people are likely having difficulty driving at only 30 mph in the first place. As far as the speed limits in school zones are concerned, the speed limit is already down to 30 mph at both school areas and, again, it maybe unlikely that lowering the speed limit would be beneficial. It may simply be an enforcement issue which we can discuss with the Sheriffs Department. 1. Commission members could request that the City Council consider asking the County to conduct a speed survey for County Road 75. This request could include a recommendation from the County or MN/DOT as to the placement of the speed limit signs near school zones. 2. The commission could decide that the current speed limits are appropriate but recommend the Sheriffs Department step up enforcement procedures along Broadway. 3. Commission members could decide to make no changes at this time. When realizing that most people will travel at a speed they feel is safe for the road and conditions, I would find it hard to believe that a traffic study done by the County or MN/DOT would recommend that the basic speed limit be lower than 30 mph on the four-lane portion of Broadway. As a result, we could find that they might even recommend increasing the speed limit by 5 mph since that's what most traffic travels now anyway. As far as the placement of signs near schools, again both areas do have 30 mph speed limits, although I believe a municipality has the right to lower the speed limit by 10-15 mph from the posted limit near a school. To make the public more aware of the speed limits, it could be that simply requesting more enforcement of the posted limits might be the answer to get the word out to the public. Sheriffs Department representatives may have some more background that they can share with the commission Wednesday night. None. .7 . Special Police Commission Agenda - 4/30/97 4. snowmobile route through the city. (R.W.) The City Council recently discussed the proposal to establish a snowmobile trail route through the city of Monticello, mainly to get snowmobilers from the Highway 25 bridge near the river to a point south of I-94. As you may recall, the Police Commission had recommended as one of the options to direct the snowmobilers along West River Street to a point where they could go south to near the freeway and then east to County Road 11$ to cross I-94. A second alternative that had been discussed by the commission was using Cedar Street to get the snowmobilers to the railroad right-of--way and use the railroad tracks to provide a route to the east to reach County Road 118. Because of the concerns that the Council had in establishing the route directly on River Street where residents would likely be opposed to the trail, the Council had recommended the trail be established along Cedar Street to utilize as much of the railroad right-of--way as possible. With the railroad right-of--way being in the back yards of most residential homes, less disruption would likely occur to the neighborhoods. The actual Council action was to approve the establishment of a designated snowmobile route along Cedar Street and along the railroad tracks contingent upon Burlington Northern Railroad allowing the City to use the route and with the understanding that the snowmobile association will sign this route. At this point, I'm not sure whether the railroad tracks can be used the entire distance between Cedar Street and County Road 11$, as the railroad tracks are only on the 5th Street right-af--way that the City owns up to approximately Washington Street, and thereafter we would definitely need the permission of Burlington Northern if we were going to continue along the right-of--way. At this paint, no contacts have been made with Burlington Northern and/or other land owners in the area, and this is simply being brought up for more discussion if the Police Commission desires. Naturally, the goal would be to confirm a route and have it properly signed before the next snowmobile season. 1f you have any thoughts on the subject, we can discuss them Wednesday night. • Council Minutes - 3/24/97 7. Monticello. Councilmernber Brian Stumpf reported that the Police Commission had recently discussed establishing a designated snowmobile route through Monticello. During discussions with the commission and the Monticello Trail Blazers Snowmobile Club, the Wright County Sheriffs Department indicated it was their intention to establish snowmobile routes through each community in Wright County and also establish a uniform county-wide snowmobile ordinance_ Stumpf explained that the Police Commission narrowed the route choices to two alternatives. The first alternative would direct snowmobiles from the Highway 25 bridge east on River Street to a paint where they could go south approaching the freeway and then east to County Road 1 ].8 to cross I-94. The second alternative would direct snowmobiles from the Highway 25 . bridge to Cedar Street and then east along the 5th Street railroad right-of- way. Concerns were expressed by the snowmobile club members that crossing Broadway on Cedar Street maybe more hazardous because of its proximity to Highway 25; however, it was also noted that establishing River Street as a designated snowmobile route would likely be controversial from residents living on River Street. City Administrator Rick Wolfsteller noted that, unless the City interfered with train traffic, it was unlikely that the railroad would oppose use of the tracks for a snowmobile route since the right-of--way was actually owned by the City. AFTER DISCUSSION, A MOTION WAS MADE BY BRUCE THIELEN AND SECONDED BY CLINT HERBST TO APPROVE ESTABLISHING A DESIGNATED SNOWMOBILE ROUTE ALONG CEDAR STREET AND ALONG THE RAILROAD TRACKS CONTINGENT UPON BURLINGTON NORTHERN RAILROAD ALLOWING THE CITY TO USE THE ROUTE AIVD WITH THE UNDERSTANDIlVG THAT THE SNOWMOBILE ASSOCL4TION WILL SIGN THE ROUTE. 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